(CNN) -- In hiding, they listened carefully. To gunshots and explosions. To friends and strangers hiding with them.

With their lives at stake, they spoke quietly and tried to decide: When do we run for it?

Sara Head of Washington hid in a stairwell. Uche Kaigwa-Okoye's place of refuge was a stall in a ladies' restroom. Zulobia Kassam was in the back of a supermarket.

Each was lucky enough never to see any of the gunmen who killed dozens in the upscale Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday. But not seeing their attackers was itself part of the terror.

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Relatives of Johnny Mutinda Musango, 48, weep after identifying his body at the city morgue in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday, September 24. Musango was one of the victims of the Westgate Mall hostage siege. Kenyan security forces were still combing the mall on the fourth day of the siege by al Qaeda-linked terrorists.

Ann Gakii reacts at the Nairobi City Mortuary after identifying the body of her father, who was killed in the mall attack on Saturday.

A Kenyan soldier runs through a corridor on an upper floor at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 24, shortly before an explosion was heard. Sounds of heavy gunfire erupted from the mall Tuesday, even as authorities said they had the building under their control. But four days after Al-Shabaab terrorists stormed the swanky mall, several gunmen -- including snipers -- were still inside, two senior officials said.

Kenyan Defense Forces walk near the mall on Monday, September 23.

Kenyan Defense Forces leave the mall on September 23.

Stephen, center, is comforted by relatives as he waits for the post mortem exam of his father, who was killed in Saturday's attack at the mall.

A Kenyan police officer guards the entrance of a building near the mall on September 23.

A Kenyan security officer takes cover as gunfire and explosions are heard from the mall on September 23.

Heavy smoke rises from the Westgate Shopping Mall on September 23.

Medics take cover behind a tree as gunfire and explosions are heard from the Westgate Mall on September 23.

A Kenyan police security officer runs for cover as heavy smoke rises from the mall on September 23.

A paramedic runs for cover outside the mall on September 23.

People run for cover outside the mall after heavy shooting started on September 23.

Kenyan security forces crouch behind a wall outside the mall on September 23.

Soldiers take cover after gunfire near the mall on September 23.

Kenyan paramilitary police officers patrol the area near the mall on Sunday, September 22.

Soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces arrive outside the Westgate Mall on September 22.

A woman shields a baby as a soldier stands guard inside the Westgate Mall on Saturday, September 21.

A rescue worker helps a child outside the mall.

People who had been hiding inside the mall during the gunfire flee the scene.

An armed official takes a shooting position inside the mall.

An armed official crouches on September 21.

Bodies lie on the ground inside the mall.

Men help a wounded woman outside the mall.

Officials carry an injured man in the mall.

Soldiers move up stairs inside the Westgate Mall.

Armed police leave after entering the mall. At least one suspect has been killed, a government official said. Police have said another suspected gunman has been detained at a Nairobi hospital.

Armed police take cover behind escalators as smoke fills the air. Witnesses say tear gas was thrown in the corridors.

A woman who had been hiding during the attack runs for cover after armed police enter the mall.

A body is seen on the floor inside the smoke-filled four-story mall.

An injured person is helped on arrival at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi after the attack at the upscale mall.

A soldier directs people up a stairway inside the Westgate on September 21.

An injured man is wheeled into the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.

People run from the Westgate Mall.

A Kenyan woman is helped to safety after the masked gunmen stormed the upscale mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff.

Crowds gather outside the upscale shopping mall. The interior ministry urges Kenyans to keep off the roads near the mall so police can ensure everyone inside has been evacuated to safety.

A policeman carries a baby to safety. Authorities said multiple shooters were at the scene.

Bodies lie outside the shopping mall.

A security officer helps a wounded woman outside.

Elaine Dang of San Diego is helped to safety after the attack. The military asked local media not to televise anything live because the gunmen are watching the screens in the mall.

Paramedics treat an injured man outside the mall.

Medical personnel carry a body away.

A body lies outside the mall. Gunmen shot people outside the mall as they entered it

A woman is pulled by a shopping cart to an ambulance.

A wounded man is escorted outside the mall.

A police officer carries a baby as people keep low and run to safety. Crowds dashed down the streets as soldiers in military fatigues, guns cocked, crawled under cars to get closer to the mall.

People run away from the scene.

Armed Kenyan forces take position to secure the area around the shopping mall as ambulances move in to carry the injured.

A woman reacts after she is rescued from the mall.

A couple flee the area. As night fell, authorities said they had cornered the gunmen in the mall.

Kenya mall attack

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Photos: Kenya mall attack

Stuck between floors

Head, along with a business colleague and a driver, fled from the parking lot after the shooting started. Her group ran into a stairwell, thinking they would go up one level and find a safe exit.

But they could hear more gunfire and backed down, winding up with a group of strangers cowering on the stairs between floors.

"We heard lots of shots at first, then none for a while -- maybe 15 minutes more -- then more," Head said.

"We didn't go want to go up or down," she said.

Head saw two people in the stairwell bleeding from minor wounds.

People talked on their cell phones -- she contacted her husband and the American embassy -- but then a stranger said the talking might attract the attackers. Those with smartphones whispered reports of hostages taken and grenades going off.

Kaigwa-Okoye thought he heard a table fall over, "and then it happened repetitively, and it got really loud." Soon people started screaming and Kaigwa-Okoye joined many who ran outside.

But they heard gunfire outside, too, so Kaigwa-Okoye went back inside. Still unable to see any attackers, they thought they were backing away from danger. But when they reached a corner, shots were fired -- shots that seemed to be in their direction.

"We were really scared," he said. "Every sound sounded scary. We couldn't make out sounds, and they had grenades. It was really, really loud ... They must have passed our corridor several times. We heard gunshots down our corridor."

Some people ventured out but quickly returned, saying it was unsafe.

Near supermarket gunfire

Kassam had just finished coffee when she entered a supermarket in the mall.

"We entered and the lights went off," she said. She waited for the generator to kick in, but instead she heard gunshots and saw people running.

Head had been in the stairwell 90 minutes when a door from the supermarket opened.

"The lights came on in the stairwell, and people went out. I was very, very hesitant because ... there was no information to tell me it was safe to exit," she said. "It was just that the people in front of me were exiting."

"People were saying be quiet," she said. She saw drops of blood on the floor as they walked through the hardware section and a cereal aisle and then through the storeroom to get outside. Still they walked quietly until it seemed safe to make noise.

Then they ran, she said, not stopping even when they reached crowds of onlookers and photographers.

Tear gas, then rescue

"People were petrified, crying, praying,"Zulobia Kassam, who escaped from mall

Kaigwa-Okoye heard firing but then realized police had arrived on the floor where he was hiding in the restroom. They were firing tear gas.

Officers told them to walk out single file and made them throw away their bags.

Kassam had been hiding in the back of the supermarket for more than two hours when a security person arrived and said it was safe to flee. She and others walked through a storage area.

"We saw lots of blood, sandals and shoes," she said.

She made it outside to the main road.

And even at what seemed a safe distance, she again heard shooting in the distance.